8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie. 9 The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them? 10 Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely. 11 They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace. 12 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.
REFLECTION:
This passage describes the false wisdom, false godliness, and false peace of the people of Judah. Everything is false. They think they are wise, but in fact there are lies and greed hidden in their wisdom, their wisdom is just petty tricks in the world which are extremely stupid in reality. They use worldly methods to heal and comfort people, thinking that they can find peace in this way. There is no peace at all, while they are just deceiving themselves. And in all these abominations, they “were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush” (v12) and greatly offended God. Wouldn’t the righteous and holy God condemn them? The conditions of the Judahites back then remind us today, because there is nothing new under the sun, and what happened before will still happen now. Our world today is also full of deceitful tricks, fill with desires and lies. People seek false things to rely on, thinking that they can get peace from them, but in fact their hearts are full of anxieties. We should be constantly reflecting as we are in such an environment, to see whether our lives are also polluted by this worldly turbid current? May the inner peace in each of us be true peace, rooted and built on God’s faithful promise.
PRAYER:
Come to God quietly, examine your heart, and see if your peace is built on the foundation of lies, and see if you have replaced the desire for God’s great wisdom with the petty tricks in the world. Ask God to give you true peace, make you stand firm in the torrent of the world.
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’
5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
REFLECTION:
This passage describes God sending Jeremiah to the temple gate to correct people’s wrong thinking, because they mistakenly thought that God would not bring harm to the temple and the people living near the temple, regardless of their behaviour. Jeremiah made severe accusations against the false and empty beliefs and idolatry of the people. While the people continue to worship as usual, they live a life full of sins. This is a completely false religious belief. The attitudes of the Judahites looking at the temple in the past and some “Christians” looking at the church nowadays have a lot in common: they worship God solemnly in the church but act according to their own way once they stepped out of the church. They regard their appearance, image, and sense of belonging in the church to be more important than changing their lives for God. They think that being attached to a superficial religious ritual can avoid disasters. We should be wary of ourselves becoming such “Christians.” If we go to church meetings, partake communion, teach Sunday school, participate in choirs, or participate in other ministries, but do not truly do it for God, then everything we do is just illusory and meaningless. Only when our motive is to please God, not to satisfy our secret and selfish desires, can everything we do be acceptable to God and become good.
PRAYER:
Ask God to enlighten you, examine your motive for participating in ministries, and see if there is any selfishness in it. If so, confess your sins to God and repent, ask God to cleanse your heart; dedicate to God that you will try your best to please Him and don’t care how others think of you.
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape gatherer pass your hand again
over its branches.” 10 To whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,
they cannot listen;
behold, the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
I am weary of holding it in.
“Pour it out upon the children in the street,
and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
both husband and wife shall be taken,
the elderly and the very aged. 12 Their houses shall be turned over to others,
their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,”
declares the Lord. 13 “For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely. 14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
says the Lord.
REFLECTION:
The “remnant of Israel” mentioned here does not refer to the righteous people left behind, but the people who survived the first assault in Jerusalem. Babylon is like a grape picker who wants to capture all the people from the countries they defeated. Babylon has invaded Judah three times, and finally devoured the whole country and destroyed the temple (see 2 Kings 24-25). Jeremiah was filled with grief and anger, because the people turned a deaf ear to his message. At that time, the Judahites no longer paid much attention to the spiritual corruption, and it seemed more or less like the spiritual situation in today’s materialistic society. Like the people in Jeremiah’s day, people nowadays do not obey God’s commands, are shameless, and do whatever they want. If Jeremiah was born in today’s world, would he have the same lament? Burying one’s head in the sand, acting deceitfully, and thinking that they are at peace, this is the response of the Judahites after hearing Jeremiah’s warning. How do we respond to the warning from God today? Denying the facts does not change the facts, and what God has said must be fulfilled. Denying sin cannot wipe away sin. The only way out is to confess to God that you have sinned against Him, and ask Him for forgiveness.
PRAYER:
Come to God in awe, and ask God to enlighten the gloom of your heart, so that you can understand whether you have greedy thoughts in your heart, whether you have deceitful acts in your daily activities. If you have, confess your sins to God, repent, and ask Him to cleanse and strengthen your heart, making you more sensitive to sin and desire for God.
